Chicago City Wire

The Chicago police fatal shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month has sparked another debate about police brutality, guns, racial profiling and when it is warranted for police use of a deadly weapon.

In a recent interview with Chicago's Morning Answer on 560 AM, Chicago Fraternal Order of the Police President John Catanzara Jr. said people need to stop thinking of police as "mobsters" and "cold-blooded killers." However, he does agree the shooting was not justified.

"You're right. Just because he [the police officer] rendered aid doesn't mean it [the shooting] was justified, but it should eliminate the mindset of what a lot of people in the city and country want to think of the police as – mobsters," Catanzara said in an interview. "Mobsters do not turn on a switch and go from cold-blooded killers to compassionate life-saving efforts." 

The March 29 shooting of Toledo has brought more rallies to the city's Little Village, as thousands gathered in the neighborhood where a police officer killed the 13-year-old. Body camera footage shows police chasing Toledo down an alley as an officer ordered him to show his hands. The footage then shows Toledo stop, put his hands up and then being shot by the officer. This has further led to more demands and demonstrations for significant changes for the Chicago Police Department to make. 

"We must do more to help children like Adam before they end up in encounters like this one," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a news conference. 

She said the focus also needs to be on getting children off the streets because, in her opinion, the streets  are as "seductive and powerful as a narcotic." 

Toledo's mother, Adeena Weiss-Ortiz, said in an interview it will be left up to the Cook County State's Attorney in Chicago, and possibly the Department of Justice, to pursue charges against Chicago Police Officer Eric Stillman, who is responsible for the shooting. 

For now, Weiss-Ortiz said she would focus on "justice for Adam, and that means reform, training and ensuring that another child does not get killed at the hands of law enforcement."